


Tales of Republic City

by minusxero



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-10 14:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3293954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minusxero/pseuds/minusxero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one-shots that fill in the blanks of things that we never end up seeing in the series. Most all of these are ideas or situations that are my personal headcanon and I hope some of them become yours!</p><p>These will range from Pre-LOK to Post-LOK possibly. Some will be sad. Some will be happy. Some downright silly. Some in between.</p><p>Yes, I stole the title from Tales of Ba Sing Se. No, not all of these will take place in Republic City.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fly Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a session of physical therapy, Korra is told a story.

**Chapter 1: Fly Away**

Another session, and still no progress.

Korra allowed (who was she kidding? Relied on) Katara and Naga to lift her up off the floor and back into the wheelchair. As she was lowered into her seat, the girl groaned.

The  _wheelchair_. The Avatar glared down at her prison, a metal and puke-green contraption that was her primary mode of transportation. It was absolutely ordinary and served its purpose well. It rolled. It allowed other people to move her from point A to point B. And she hated it.

She hated what it represented. It was a crutch. Training wheels. An open admission that says  _I can't do it myself_. It kept her firmly on the ground and was a constant reminder that the ground was where she'd stay.

"What are you thinking about?" Katara ventured to ask. The waterbending master, graceful and muted in age, had taken to her seat in the corner of the healing hut. Korra remembered the stories she had heard about the woman who sat before her. Stories of a younger Katara. Full of fire, they had said. Anyone who dared to stand in the way of what she believed was right was verbally rebuked faster than a winged lemur could steal food.

Korra sighed. "I miss flying," she responded. "I think it was my favorite part of airbending. The freedom of it all was unmatched. You could go in any direction whenever you wanted. And here I am," the girl gestured, "tethered to the ground."

Katara nodded sagely. "A long time ago, Aang took me out on his glider." Korra hadn't heard this story before. She leaned forward with rapt attention. "It was my birthday. We had been going out for what, a few months?" The elder woman closed her eyes, as if to recall the memory. "He had brought me up onto the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. The view," she sighed, "was amazing. And then he asked if I trusted him."

"What did you say?" Korra inquired, her troubles temporarily forgotten.

There was a chuckle. " _Of course_ , I said. And suddenly he had his glider out.  _Alright then sweetie_ , he replied.  _I'm going to give you the sky_." Katara smiled at the memory. Korra cringed.

"Sweetie?!" Korra exclaimed, disgust evident in her face. She even stuck out her tongue a bit as if biting into a bad onion banana.

"Oh give it a break," Katara countered. "We were young. I had just turned fifteen. He was thirteen," the woman said with a wink, "give or take a hundred years." The Avatar snorted.

"Right. That's not creepy at all."

"You realize you're talking about yourself, right?"

Korra considered that for a moment, then waved it off. "Point taken. Continue."

"Now, I had flown before. At the Northern Air Temple, back during the war. And obviously sitting on Appa's back for the better part of a year. This was special though. This was  _with_  Aang. Which, as far as I'm concerned, was the first time. So I was to fly with him." Katara took a sip of her tea to collect her thoughts. "The logistics of it all weren't really thought of beforehand. After a few minutes, we settled on me with top of the glider. I'd hold onto his waist with the glider between us. It was a nice arrangement. I was pretty proud of that one."

A howl slightly resembling a wolfbat emerged from Korra. "You player you," she said slyly.

Without acknowledging the comment, the waterbending master continued. "Aang hadn't realized how much different it'd be to pilot the glider with the extra weight. I didn't know this at the time. I thought he was just diving for dramatic effect. The speed was frightening yet exhilarating. We were probably five seconds away from becoming roadkill when he figured it out and got us  _flying_." A huge smile broke onto Katara's wrinkled face. "It was the most beautiful sunset I'd ever seen."

Korra sighed dreamily. "And that was it?"

"Almost. When we got back to the wall, he apologized. I guess he thought I knew that he didn't have control. I may have given him a huge shove after that." She paused. "And a kiss."

There was a squeal from Korra. "Best present ever?"

"At the time," Katara nodded. "Turns out that was a last minute idea. He had completely forgotten my birthday and didn't know what to get me." Korra chuckled at that. Classic Aang. "Speaking of which," Katara said, standing up with a slight groan. "I have something for you."

"What?" asked Korra, confused. She watched Katara make her way to a room in the back of the hut, and disappear for a couple of moments. She returned with a worn red and gold cloth, folded with care. The golden emblem consisted of three diamond shapes arranged to face left, right, and down (or up? Korra couldn't make heads or tails of it). Katara placed it in Korra's hands and knelt to look the Avatar in the eyes.

"Happy birthday, Korra."

"Hap- what?" Korra looked at the cloth, bewildered. It was her birthday? When? She did a mental count in her head. "It  _is_  my birthday. How did I forget?"

"Sometimes things pass you by without realizing it. You become focused on another task or fact entirely and everything else sneaks up on you."

Korra looked up from the cloth, tears in her eyes. "Thank you Katara," she said, voice wavering slightly. The moment passed, and she shook herself back into shape. "What is it?" she asked.

"That," Katara replied, "was Aang's headband."

The Avatar looked down and remembered a story. Aang had fought with Azula and Zuko and lost, nearly dying in the process. When he awoke, he and his friends had been forced to take up false identities since he was presumed dead. "This was from his time in the Fire Nation?"

Katara nodded. "Aang at the time was feeling horrible. He felt he had failed as the Avatar for not being able to fully activate his Avatar State. For choosing  _that_  instead of me. It was a rough period for him, but he still kept on and attempted to find the best in people. To always see the bright side of things and others."

With a steady eye, Korra took in her waterbending teacher and healer's face. "There's a message here, isn't there?"

Getting back up, Katara replied, "There is always hope, Korra. You may feel like you're not moving forward, but you are. Even if a bit slowly." She stepped behind Korra and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair. "You may not be able to fly now," she said, "but just imagine how amazing it will feel when you  _can_. After all the hard work you've put in. Won't it be great?"

Korra turned to look back at the woman helping her along. "I guess it will." She smiled. Then a pause. "Wait," she said. "I think this is the first time I've ever gotten a present from you for my birthday."

"Oh," Katara brushed idly, "I was never really a present person."

"Well, I appreciate it so much." Looking down, Korra looked at the headband. What it meant. What it could mean. She raised her head. "I think I can take it from here," she stated. Katara nodded and released her grip on the handles. "Thank you again," she said, as she wheeled off towards the main complex.

* * *

Later that night, Katara was settling into bed. She lay there for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly she groaned, and rose. The woman turned to look at the picture on her nightstand. It was a picture of her family from decades past. Bumi leaning back with a hand on a table, an easy grin and a mischievous glint in his eye. Kya standing on the table, too short to stand normally. Her hands were behind her back, her eyes wide. Tenzin, just a baby, tucked into Katara's arm. Aang with one hand on his wife's shoulder and the other on his eldest son's.

Nineteen years. Nineteen whole years to the day since the last time she had heard his voice. Katara picked the photo up with teary eyes and gave it a kiss.

"I miss you sweetie," she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:**  Thanks for reading! The name of the chapter was post-referencing a song by Lenny Kravitz. I've got a soft side for naming chapters after song titles and/or artist names (if vague enough. No Nine Inch Nails chapter, if I can help it!). I appreciate any and all feedback and comments. Good, bad, somewhere in between. This is my first time venturing into the world of fanfiction and I know I'll need some help along the way, if you can provide it!
> 
> Anyways, in case I didn't make it clear in my writing (which is entirely possible), of course Katara knows when Korra's birthday is. That's the day her husband died. Which is kinda sad to think about. Okay, very sad to think about.


	2. Separate Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple contemplates their future.

**Chapter 2: Separate Ways**

Tenzin had been following his girlfriend down the hall for several minutes now, trying to calm her down.

"Lin, please stop. If you could just look at the situation from my point of - oof!" The Airbender walked straight into Lin's now stationary body, and found himself on the ground.

The woman stood tall, her shoulders slightly sagged. She sighed and put her hand to the bridge of her nose. "I already  _know_  your point of view, Ten. You want me to throw away my life's work and dreams so that you can play daddy."

"Well it sounds bad when you put it  _that_  way," he replied, gathering himself onto his feet. "But you have to understand what this means to me. What this means to the  _world_ -"

"So I have to retire from the force and become your incubator?" Lin countered. "Do you know how much that hurts me? What this  _job_  means to me?! I  _have_  to succeed here. I have to do this for mom because my, my  _sister_ ," she spat out in disgust, "caused her to leave. Surely you understand that."

"Understand?!" Tenzin exclaimed. "You don't get to tell me about family commitments as if I know nothing about it. My fath-"

Lin turned to the airbending master in disgust. "You think just because Aang was the  _Avatar_  that your prob-"

"IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM BEING THE AVATAR AND YOU KNOW IT, LIN!" Tenzin screamed, his face red with fury. A door behind him slid open and a young woman peeked out. She looked from the Chief of the RCPD to Tenzin and quickly found her way back in her room, the door shut again. Tenzin took a breath. "Lin, I'm the  _last Airbender_. I have a responsibility to Aan… my father. Dammit, to the entire  _world_  to make sure I don't  _remain_  the last Airbender. You think I want to settle down right now?! But I have no choice. I love you. You love me. We shouldn't even be  _having_  this argument right now."

Tenzin found himself sitting back down on the floor of the hallway, tears forming in his eyes. Lin looked down at the man she loved, silently weeping. Weeping for the loss of his father. For the future of his race. For the weight of responsibility suddenly thrust onto his shoulders. For the woman he loved apparently not understanding what he was going through.

Without thinking, Lin was on her knees as well, and had the distraught man in her arms. He buried his face into the nape of her neck as she stroked the back of his head with her ungloved hand. They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes.

"I'm so alone," he whispered. "Bumi and Kya don't understand. They couldn't. But I had hoped that you maybe… that you would…" Tenzin trailed off, not able to find the words to complete the storm of thoughts racing through his head. Lin pulled away briefly to put her hands to the sides of her boyfriend's face. She stared into his eyes for a brief moment before pulling him into a kiss, wet and salty from the tears that stained his face.

"I love you," she murmured, unnaturally earnest in an odd turn. "But you have to see that… I don't have that in me." Lin lowered her head, eyes closed as if in deep thought. "I have the force. Who else is supposed to lead the metalbenders? I'm the only option. I have to uphold the family name and…" A pause. "I have to uphold the family name."

"You can take a break, can't you?" Tenzin replied. His eyes red from tears. "Just a year. That's all I ask. We can," he momentarily turned red, and it wasn't from anger or sadness. "We can, you know. And then you can go back to the force. You're a great Police Chief, but I just… I need this. Please."

"And there you go making this about you again."

"That's  _not_  what I'm doing, Lin."

"Yes it is! You're rushing us because you have some mission from on high to-"

"Dammit Lin, it's not a mission, it's just a kid and-"

" _AND MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO HAVE KIDS!_ " she screamed as she got up on her feet in a huff. Tenzin looked up at her, completely bewildered.

The seconds passed by like the ticking of a clock. Lin was breathing heavily, eyes slightly watering. Tenzin broke the silence. "Lin…"

Suddenly she was adjusting her uniform, avoiding eye contact with the Airbender. "I'm going to be late for my shift," Lin announced to the air directly to the left of Tenzin. "I'll see you tonight."

And she walked out. Out of the hallway, out of the temple. Off the island.

* * *

Lin got to the station without any trouble. The officers greeted her in very curt and subdued tones; they knew something was up. She was surly. Well, more surly than usual.

After checking on the status of a few felons they had jailed over the night, the Chief made her way to her office and closed the door with a slam. The officers nearest the door jumped in surprise. This was certainly not good.

The woman sat down at her desk, and sighed. Paperwork from the nightshift were haphazardly stacked at the corner. After a quick flip through, wherein she threw the papers back down in frustration, she silently metalbent the drawer to her right open. Inside her trembling hand found the envelope that had been delivered to her weeks prior. She reached in and pulled out the letter that had plagued her in nightmares since first reading. Out of some sick sense of punishment, she forced herself to read it again.

_Ms. Beifong,_

_With the tests concluded, we regret to inform you that you are unable to conceive. Grief counseling is avail-_

Lin Beifong, elbows on her desk, lowered her face into her open hands and sobbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I promise not all of these will be depressing as fuck, I swear! I have an entire outline of stories I want to tell, but my muse (which may or may not be currently depressed, sorry) implored that these be written. As always, feedback and comments are forever appreciated!
> 
> The name of the chapter comes from the song of the same title by Journey.


	3. Unwritten Letter #1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra doesn't write as much as verbally vomits onto the page.

After staring at the blank sheet of paper for way too many minutes to count, Korra sighed and started writing.

_Hey! Korra here._

_Thanks for the letter. It really brightened my day, which has been ugh mixed with blah. There's some guh in there as well, though not as much as the first two. Your letter was very much a yay! ~~Which is more than I can say about Mako's, which made me do a full body cringe just reading it.~~_

Ugh. Don't bring up Mako, stupid.

_Today was my birthday. Ol' Avatar Korra is the big nineteen today. I'm finally your age, at least until YOUR birthday._

_Speaking of which, I don't think I remember celebrating your birthday like... ever. Do you even have one? Are you trying to hide it? Are you afraid of getting old, because ~~I don't think you should because you're really pretty and shouldn't have to worry about~~  
_

Whoa whoa, wait. Stop. That's a bit much there, Korra.

_~~I've missed you~~ I'm really happy that you've been keeping busy. Physical therapy has been ridiculous. Katara has me trying to walk and it's so frustrating. I'm barely able to take a step and splat! Roadkill Korra. I feel so useless. I look at Bolin and Mako and you doing all these amazing things and just wish I could be back there ~~with you~~ helping out in some way._

_~~You know, if you want to stop by and keep me company, you're more than welcome to. I really do miss having you around. The closest girlfriends I have here are my mom and Katara and I can't talk to them about stuff the way I can talk with you. I should've asked you to come with me, I really wanted to but~~ _

Don't make her feel guilty. She might actually come visit. It'd be nice if she did, but... stupid Korra.

_~~Naga says hi, she misses you too~~ _

...stupid Korra.

_I heard you talking at a press conference on the radio today. You sounded ~~very pretty~~ so professional. I'm glad you scored that contract with Republic City. Hopefully they'll realize how awesome you are the way I have. Because you're pretty awesome._

_I'm still having nightmares. About that day. About Zaheer and the poison. It still scares me and I can't really sleep at night. I'd be lying if I said I was writing this letter JUST to write back. I'm trying not to sleep. So I've been doing this, and thinking about other things. Remember being stranded in the desert? I started thinking about that and it was the first time I'd laughed in days._

_Anyways, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. I know you're super busy. I just thought I'd check in. You know._

~~_I miss y_ ~~

"Oh forget it!" Korra grumbled, crumpling the paper up. She took the paper ball in her hand and threw it at the wastebin in the corner of the room.

She missed by nearly a meter.

"I'll get it later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super-long delay, all 68 people who have read this so far! (30 of which are me, but who's counting? Except me. And now you. Ugh.)
> 
> Anyways, to make up for it, I give you this whole 500 freakin' words of random. Sorry. The name of the title comes from a song by Vienna Teng.


	4. Across the Universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A man goes on a journey.

Once everything involving the Red Lotus had settled down, he decided to take a trip to the Southern Water Tribe.

It was not his first time there by any means. Several important turning points in his life had involved that cold tundra. But this was different. This visit would, with any luck, be full of hope and happiness. It would also, luck aside, be an adventure. So he packed some instant noodles (okay, a lot of instant noodles) and the bare necessities needed to survive off the land.

It was a lifestyle he had known for most of his defining years, so it wasn't difficult to carry light.

After the obligatory visits with some dignitaries and nobles of the tribe, the man took off towards the heart of the South Pole. The wind bit at his bones, somehow piercing the dense clothing he had worn in preparation for the everlasting winter of the South. The man shuddered, and kept on.

The trek felt like ages, although it was in reality only a few hours. There was almost a sense of punishment in that walk, as if the powers-that-be had deemed him unworthy of his end-goal. That wasn't new either, and he embraced the challenge like an old friend. A quick meal of noodles later, and the man found himself at his destination.

He looked out into a frozen forest, a beam of light shooting out towards the sky emanating from the center of the icy trees. The howling wind had slightly dissipated upon arrival, and the man took solace in the minimal protection the trees gave towards the still-cold gusts of air around him. At long last, he found himself standing at the edge of the spirit portal, glowing a bright pale blue.

Never before had he been so scared. Never before had he been so excited.

"Well," the man spoke to no one in particular, "here goes everything."

He stepped into the portal.

After a strange lifting sensation, the man became aware that it was no longer cold. He was also aware that his eyes were closed. Wary eyelids lifted and there was a barren turqoise valley. Two portals on either side of the valley floated towards the purple sky, accented rock formations reminding the man of a pair of koi fish he had once seen years ago. A tree stood in the center of everything, a large empty hole inside. Some outside force (or something inside his heart, for all he knew) compelled him towards the tree, and soon his feet led him inside the spherical dwelling.

Legs crossed and hands on his knees, the man closed his eyes yet again and took a deep breath. Not a second passed when a small, childlike voice broke into the silence. "I know who you're looking for," it said.

He opened his eyes and turned towards the sound. A small green humanoid creature, devoid of imperfections in the skin with impossibly large eyes was struggling to raise itself into the opening. He stood up and without asking, pulled the spirit up with two hands and held him at eye level, an appraising look on both their faces.

"You're a bit small for a spirit," he said.

"And you're a bit big for a kid," the spirit replied, still whimsical in tone. The lack of a mouth made the voice's appearance a bit off-setting.

"I'm not a kid," the man responded.

"Oh, you're all kids to us," countered the spirit. In a smooth motion, it jumped out of the human's hands and began hopping around the empty clearing of the massive tree. "He's on his way, in case you were wondering. He knows you're here."

A hacking cough and a double take. "He... he knows? How?"

A dark shadow silhouetted by a lantern appeared in the opening of the tree. "The Spirit World always finds a way of bringing you to where you are most needed. Hello, nephew."

 _Hi dad_ , thought Zuko. "Hello, uncle. I... I brought a Pai Sho board. And some tea. I'm still not really good at the game, and you might not like the tea I brought..." And when words became lost, suddenly his backpack was on the floor, arms wrapped around his uncle for the first time in years.

"I've missed you so much," Zuko murmured, tears flowing freely down his face.

"And I you, Zuko," replied Iroh, patting his nephew on the back. "I am eager to hear how you have been all these years."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is something I needed to happen in the series, and the three-year gap between Books 3 and 4 made for the best time, especially considering it was in Book 3 that Zuko discovered the Iroh was still around.
> 
> I imagine Zuko is still really bad at Pai Sho, but a fair bit better now that he's older. The tea that he brought was the most expensive tea he could find. It's probably not THAT great. But the man does have a taste for the hot leaf juice now, that's for sure.
> 
> And yes, I feel like Zuko at some point decided that Iroh was more of a dad than his real father ever was. He would never say so out loud, due to HONOR, but that's a headcanon I've always felt is true to some extent.
> 
> The title of the chapter is, of course, Across the Universe by the Beatles.


	5. Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interrogation. Book 1.

_Begin of session 1, time is 8:37PM. Please state your name for the record._

Hmmph. Like you don’t know who I am.

_**Please state your name for the record.** _

Fine, fine. Lau Gan-Lan.

_And what is your occupation, Lau Gan-Lan?_

Really? Okay, jeez… I’m the CEO of Cabbage Corp.

_Please note that the suspect is the head of the company in question of the investigation. Mr. Gan-Lan, do you know why you are here today?_

I know why, it doesn’t mean I understand it.

_Why are you here today, Mr. Gan-Lan?_

Because you guys are idio-

_Suspect is becoming increasingly agitated and hosti-_

I’m NOT hostile! I just think this whole thing is elephant-bull-

_We don’t have all day, Lau. Please answer the question._

Ugh, okay. You believe - falsely, I might add - that I have ties to the terrorist known as Amon.

_Mr. Gan-Lan, I am going to pass you some documents. Please study them and state for the record what it is you see._

Alright… these look like some uniforms. Dark fabric, from what I can see. Night-vision goggles, similar to the designs we sell at discount price at all retail-

_These, along with several more crates of what you see in the pictures labeled evidence A1-A15 were found in a warehouse across from Pier 114B in Yue Bay. Are you familiar with the location?_

Yes. It’s my warehouse.

_So you’re admitting that these are your crates._

I’m admitting that my warehouse is located across from Pier 114B. It’s our most public warehouse. Anyone with eyes and ears, even those as bad as a tigersloth knows it.

_Sir, these crates fall in line with the equipment we have seen used by those in the Equalist movement._

And those crates could just as easily have been snuck into my well-in-the-public-eye warehouse!

_Your most public warehouse was… snuck into?_

I’m not saying it makes sense! But it makes more sense than ME being an Equalist sympathizer!

_How would the Equalists have snuck their supplies into your warehouse?_

I’m not a detective! Why are you asking me?! Maybe they have a waterbender in their ranks, how should I know? You have nothing on me aside from those crates and you know it!

_We’ll see about that. Pardon me. End of session 1, 8:45PM._

* * *

_Begin session 2, 8:53PM. Suspect Lau Gan-Lan refuses to see a lawyer._

_Mr. Gan-Lan, from where do you originate?_

Wow, that’s a big word. Where’d you learn that from?

_Answer the question._

I’m of the Earth Kingdom, although I primarily associated with Republic City.

_Alright. And what is your bending status?_

I’m not a bender.

_Uh huh. And what are your thoughts on benders?_

Wait, you think that just because I can’t bend an element that I’m involved?

_It is a noted trait among Equalists._

Yeah well there are literal handfuls of nonbenders that could be guilty! Hiroshi Sato! He’s a nonbender, but I don’t see you traipsing over to Future Industries to put shackles on him!

_Crates of Equalist weaponry were not found at Future Indust-_

Right right, back to the crates. We’ve already established that those aren’t mine!

_We have not, Mr. Gan-Lan. Tell me, does your father’s relationship with the Avatar affect your life?_

Really? Yes. Of course it affects my life! I wouldn’t be here without the Avatar!

_In this interrogation room?_

Wow, you dense monkey-marmot. No. As CEO of one of the largest private companies in the world.

_I don’t understand. It is well-documented in your father’s biography that the antics of Avatar Aang and his group of friends ruined his cabbage business._

It did! And might I note that Councilman Sokka was a nonbender?

_Please note for the record that Mr. Gan-Lan has admitted to past history with benders that were a detriment to-_

Detriment? You really ARE dense, aren’t you? Let me fill you in on a history lesson, since you don’t seem to GET what I just admitted to.

Yes, my father was a cabbage merchant before Sozin’s Comet. Yes, it’s true that Avatar Aang, Councilman Sokka, his sister Katara, and the mother of your esteemed Police Chief ruined his business. Several times. Over the course of a year, even going as far as destroying a restaurant he had build from the ground up! Now let me ask YOU something, Mr. Detective man… guy… sir. Where would my father be, where would I be, if the Avatar had not done these things?

_...selling cabb-_

SELLING CABBAGES! That’s right. I was only a child when this happened. But I remember things. My dad told me stories of his defeats. Some days due to lack of cabbage sales. Others due to rowdy bending kids ruining his stand. He got into trouble with Ba Sing Se AND Omashu customs, if I recall. But did he give up? No. He went straight back to the garden, got some more cabbages, and went back out there to sell. He never gave up. “Always forward,” he’d say during the stories he’d tell. And forward he went. Until one day, through a lucky run-in with the Avatar and his gang, my father met a mechanic…

_Satoru. I remember reading that. Shortly after, Cabbage Corp was founded._

Exactly! I owe my entire livelihood to the Avatar. And so did my father, and he was never ashamed to admit as much, although nobody ever asked. Question: Have you heard any of our commercials on the radio?

_Yes._

They’re usually skits. Stupid ones, I know, but Marketing says they burrow into your brain faster than a badgermole. Anyways, it’s always the same formula: Some random Ju Di or Lee are down on their luck. There’s something they need to do, or somewhere they need to go, but aren’t able to due to high cost, or stupidity, or whatever. But one of their friends comes along, problem-free and gives some relevant advice and plug our product. When the character asks if he or she can borrow whatever their friend has…

_“Not my Cabbage Car!”_

Or just Cabbages, if the product name is too long to be catchy. There’s a reason that’s our catchphrase. Nearly that exact same phrase was uttered by my father every time the Avatar and his friends ruined his stand, or his restaurant, or whatever. He had no misconceptions about how he had reached that road. It was a lot of pain. A lot of setbacks. But without those setbacks, he would never have been as successful as he was. I would never be as successful as I am.

_So that catchphrase-_

A reminder that there is a light that must be shining somewhere if you find yourself standing in the dark.

_That’s a quote from General Iroh._

He got it from my dad. They met a few times over tea.

_So you don’t hate the Avatar?_

Hate the Avatar?

 

I owe the Avatar everything.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the constantly infrequent updates! I just find it difficult to get into the writing mood lately. But I got this one out!
> 
> I like the idea that Lau Gan-Lan feels indebted to the Avatar for his success. Also the idea of "Not my cabbages!" being the company slogan.
> 
> I found it difficult to write the early parts of Lau's life because it's not really told where he was born or when. Based on his age he may have been born in Republic City, but his dad looked kinda old in ATLA. So there's a weird window there. So I decided Lau must have been born after the Cabbage Corp founding, but not far after.
> 
> The name of the chapter comes from the NIN song Everything.


End file.
